Munster coach Anthony Foley says Tommy O'Donnell is "crestfallen" after his horror hip injury ruled him out of contention for Ireland's World Cup squad.

A confirmed hip dislocation, sustained in Saturday's World Cup warm-up in Cardiff, could now rule him out of rugby until 2016 and Foley said O'Donnell would now have to focus on his recovery.

"He's obviously crestfallen around it but he knows he's in a situation now he needs to get out of and work hard to get back into it," said the Munster coach.

"It's about the person now rather than the player so it's about looking after him now and making sure he's getting proper care. It's unfortunate."

O'Donnell, who praised the hospital in Cardiff and thanked his supporters for their messages of consolation, had been vying with Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy for one of the back-row slots in Joe Schmidt's 31-man squad.

"It is a tough pill to swallow over the last few days," said O'Donnell, 28, who hails from Cahir and was winning just his ninth international cap.

An IRFU medical bulletin added: "He will be limited to non-weight-bearing activity for at least six weeks and has unfortunately been ruled out of participating in RWC15.